Suspended micro- and nano-structures are of increasing technological importance. In many circumstances, oxidation of a suspended structure may be necessary. For instance, this is the case in the fabrication of nanowire-based transistors where the nanowire often needs to be thinned when suspended or a gate oxide may have to be defined. The oxidation of suspended structures can however result in undesirable bending or buckling of the structures.
Therefore, techniques that minimize or eliminate the bending/buckling of suspended micro/nanostructures during oxidation would be desirable.